Strategy Session

By Jeff Kaplan

Automated network-management tools to the rescue

05/08/07

One of the fundamental challenges facing network professionals is balancing ongoing responsibilities with reacting to daily events. Many spend the bulk of their time putting out fires or responding to unanticipated business requirements — often at the expense of dealing with the routine “care and feeding” of network operations.

Changing channels: new ways to do business

02/27/07

The proliferation of on-demand services in our personal lives has made many of us receptive to a comparable set of on-demand services to satisfy our professional needs.

On-demand services set to take off in 2007

11/30/06

IT is increasingly becoming a commodity, which many organizations are still unable to use fully. As a result, in 2007 more companies will turn to on-demand alternatives, which will disrupt the IT industry fundamentally.

Stirring the soup of service providers

09/25/06

Recent acquisitions in the managed-services and software-as-a-service segments of the IT industry are not only clear signs that these new methods of dealing with age-old technology challenges are winning broad-based acceptance, but also that they are fundamentally changing the way other industries do business.

A new definition for on-demand

07/17/06

A new definition for on-demand

Bridging the ITIL-SOA gap

05/01/06

The key to success is integrating and aligning your ITIL and SOA initiatives early. Make sure that there is sufficient cross-representation of the IT operations staff and software developers in both efforts. Establish a coordinating committee that ensures the overall goals and specific procedural guidelines of the initiatives are tightly coupled. And build into your ITIL framework and SOA an ongoing communications and reporting mechanism to encourage real collaboration.

Downsizing outsourcing

02/13/06

Large-scale outsourcing isn't going to go away, but enterprise business and IT leaders no longer need to make big bets on long-term agreements to achieve their business objectives. Instead, they can now enlist more-narrowly focused managed services and software-as-a-service solutions to address their strategic business requirements.

Sorting through software as a service

11/21/05

Intensifying competition will give companies plenty of choices at favorable prices. Now is the time to begin to evaluate and test software as a service in various areas of your IT and business operations to determine how it can satisfy your requirements.

Independent MSPs struggle to survive

09/26/05

While the escalating demand for managed services is certainly good news for early entrants in the market that have struggled to survive, it hasn't produced overwhelming financial success for many of these service providers.

Off-target offshore outsourcing

07/18/05

There is no question that outsourcing is a good idea for many firms that need to reduce operating costs and improve IT operations. However, many companies will be hurt by hastily following the herd down the outsourcing path without thoroughly evaluating the growing array of new outsourcing providers.

Changing views on outsourcing

05/16/05

High dissatisfaction and failure rates should come as no surprise to those who have followed the outsourcing business.

Why managed services fail

03/07/05

The good news is that the proliferation of managed services has created a buyer's market for managed services that can alleviate many hassles associated with day-to-day IT/network operations. The bad news is that few managed service salespeople know how to properly sell their managed service capabilities and potential business benefits.

Services ready for prime time

12/13/04

The demand for on-demand/utility computing and managed services is growing. The challenge in 2005 for vendors, carriers and resellers will be how to package, price, position and deliver these services successfully. For users, the challenge will be how to use these services more effectively to achieve their business objectives.

Cisco takes on managed services

10/04/04

The NetSolve acquisition can be seen as a typical Machiavellian move by Cisco. Rather than build an in-house managed service capability, Cisco has acquired it to quickly leapfrog its competitors, which must now either accelerate their internal build-out efforts or make their own acquisitions to remain competitive.

The failure of trade shows

07/19/04

The NetSolve acquisition can be seen as a typical Machiavellian move by Cisco. Rather than build an in-house managed service capability, Cisco has acquired it to quickly leapfrog its competitors, which must now either accelerate their internal build-out efforts or make their own acquisitions to remain competitive.

Redefining maintenance

05/17/04

Smart enterprise decision-makers recognize that strategic sourcing arrangements with key vendors can reduce their costs and hassles without the risks of outsourcing. Urging their vendors to provide multidimensional maintenance agreements can satisfy their needs while helping their vendors resolve a key business challenge.

Adding consulting to business mix

02/09/04

If you're an enterprise decision-maker, network consulting and professional services can help assure you that your network vendors and service providers can properly address your business and technical requirements. However, it's important to examine not only the credentials of the consultants assigned to your projects, but also the structure and consistency of your vendor or service provider's overall service delivery methods.

Preparing for industry inversion

12/08/03

It is very likely that 2003 will be seen as an inversion point in which the IT and telecom industries began a broad-based shift from technology-driven to services-led businesses.

Serving SMBs is not so simple

10/13/03

The EDS-Microsoft partnership serves as a warning to both SMBs and large companies to examine carefully whether the service provider pursuing their outsourcing business is properly structured to satisfy their needs and whether its services are really better than what users can get on their own.

ASPs prepare to make comeback

08/18/03

It is a good time to look at application outsourcing alternatives. By clearly understanding your application management and hosting requirements, you can take advantage of the growing assortment of independent and ISV-managed ASP alternatives.

Telcos find their place

06/23/03

The ILECs and IXCs that have accepted their role in supporting their enterprise customers' network requirements should be congratulated. Companies should be wary of carriers that don't know their limitations.

Movement under the radar

04/21/03

The growing acceptance of utility computing as a new outsourcing model at the low end of the market also should be encouraging for larger companies that are considering these services for their branch offices and remote workers.

It pays to sort out UCPs

02/10/03

IBM's announcement of an impressive round of on-demand computing megadeals at the end of 2002 signals that utility computing services finally might have arrived.

Success strategies for 2003

12/16/02

Given the tenuous economic and political climate, most IT organizations are pleased to have survived the past year's challenges and are preparing for another year of the same. While few can afford to make major new IT investments, here are some actions you could take to improve your operations while meeting your tight budgetary constraints.

Managing IT contraction

11/04/02

When it comes to their existing IT operations, the mantra of the day is consolidation and standardization. Yet, few IT organizations have the expertise, experience or objectivity to downsize their IT systems.

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